Texas Tech football: Do Red Raiders have new kicking problem in 2018?

The Texas Tech football team struggled in the punting game against Ole Miss causing many to wonder if the Red Raiders will have to struggle through more kicking woes in 2018.

Texas Tech football fans still cringe when the Red Raiders line up for a field goal attempt. Even though senior kicker Clayton Hatfield is back to full health this season following a 2017 hip injury that derailed his season, many Red Raider fans likely watched both of his week-one field goal attempts with their hands over their eyes because of the trauma inflicted by the 2017 place-kickers. But now, those woes may have just shifted to a different aspect of the kicking game.

While Hatfield looked fantastic in making all of his kicks (two field goals and three extra-points) against Ole Miss, senior punter Dominic Panazzolo was atrocious in his 2018 debut. On five total punts, the Australian product averaged just 34.7 yards per punt.

The low point came in the third quarter when he shanked an 11-yard punt out of bounds. The kick came from the Red Rider 47-yard-line when Tech had an opportunity to flip the field but instead, the Rebels took over at their own 42.

On the ensuing drive, Tech was fortunate that Ole Miss fumbled on its first play. An Eli Howard recovery would give Tech the ball at mid field.

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But such luck will not always be in the Red Raiders’ back pocket. If Tech is going to be relying on its defense and ground game this year, field position will be a critical component of the game.

Thus, Tech must get more from its punting game. And unfortunately, the 11-yard kick was not the only sub-par punt from Panazzolo on Saturday.

The rugby-style kicker also had a first-quarter punt travel just 33 yards to the Ole Miss 40-yard-line. As was often the case last season, Texas Tech lost the field position game against Ole Miss, in large part because Panazzolo was unable to flip the field.

The punter who claims to be able to punt with both feet and to be able to punt traditional style as well as Rugby-style, did have a 47-yard and a 42-yard punt on Saturday. But for punters, the kicks that go astray are far more impactful than the quality kicks and over the past two years, Panazzolo has had far too many shanks.

The former JUCO transfer has had some major gaffes in his time in Lubbock and most seem to come when Tech has most needed to flip the field.

One such example came last season when Panazzolo simply dropped the ball as he began to punt from deep in his own territory at Kansas. He was able to get a foot on the ball but it rolled forward about ten yards before being downed by the Red Raiders for a 2-yard net. Kansas would score a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

Later in the season against TCU, Tech trailed 10-3 in the third quarter when a 28-yard Panazzolo punt gave the ball to TCU at the Red Raider 41-yard-line. Those are just two examples of the Red Raiders being hurt by miscues from the former No. 2 rated JUCO punter in the nation in the 2017 class.

It must be pointed out that the stats show Panazzolo was an average punter last year. His 41.4-yard average ranked 66th overall in the nation and the fact that his rugby-style punts are often un-returnable make his net average tolerable.

However, Tech needs better than tolerable in 2018 when the offense is likely to struggle more than in previous years. The Red Raiders simply can ill-afford miscues like we have seen from Dominic Panazzolo over the last year and like we saw in Houston on Saturday.

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The punting game must be a strength in 2018 if the Red Raiders are to give their defense the best chance at succeeding against high-powered offensive teams such as Ole Miss. Keep an eye on this aspect of the kicking game as the Texas Tech football season unfolds and pray that it does not become 2018’s new kicking nightmare.

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